Thursday, January 12, 2006

Friday 13th January

Another good week with most sessions as planned although Sunday's recce above Great Langdale was a hard day out. The two objectives were to find the descent routes off Bowfell and Rossett Pike. Route off Rossett Pike was easy to find and straightforward to follow in complete contrast to the Bowfell descent.

We started at the Old Dungeon Ghyll and climbed out of the valley by the side of Rossett Ghyl and turned for Esk Pike at the hause, in brilliant sunshine. By Esk Pike summit the clouds had cleared and the Scafell massif, dusted with snow, looked magnificent. By Bowfell summit we were back up in the clag struggling to keep our feet on the ice that completely caked the summit. I think I saw the cairn marking the descent but it was also plastered in snow and ice and we couldn't be sure that it was a cairn to we headed for Ore Gap and (frozen) Angle Tarn. Thereafter route finding was easy and after Pike O'Stickle we headed down for a beer at the ODG - a short day, I know, but my legs thought otherwise.

With 31 miles done by Sunday night I reduced Monday's recovery run to 8 miles but did the rest of the week as planned to give a total of 68.3 miles & 10026 ft. Average weight for the week is 160.8 lbs; a loss of 1.8 lbs and 10.9 lbs in total.

Next week should also be a high mileage week although the climbing will be a bit less. Saturday is planned to be about 20 miles over Winter Hill and Darwen Moor and with the LDWA "Two Crosses" on Sunday to add a further 25 miles and almost 3000 ft for the weekend. The rest of the week should be as planned to give about 80 miles in total.

Support TeamSince the last note about the Support Team Tony Varley, Graham Schofield and Steve Jackson (all HRMI) have offered to help, thanks guys.